Airplane ornament for motor cars



Sept. 22, 1931. K. w. WILSON AIRPLANE ORNAMENT FOR MOTOR CARS Filed May 2'7, 1930 3 F I gwue'ntoz \{y l v iilil Enid/i160 u? y ii" I'Y i? -/6 ill h duo mug Patented Sept. 22, 1931 rrsn STATES KENNETH, w. WILSON, or s'r. Louis, MICHJTIGAN.

AIRPLANE ORNAMENT FOR, MQTOB CARS Application filed May 27,

This invention relates to ornaments to be applied to motor cars and particularly to an ornament having the form of an airplane so constructed that as themachine moves for- Ward the airplane will rise with reference to the car and as the speed of the machine decreases the airplane will fall.

A further object is to provide a device of this character in whichthe airplane willtake 19 various elevations, depending upon the speed of the car and which is supported by a plurality of telescopic sections from any suitable portion of the car, as for instance, from the radiator cap or from the headlight;

A further object is toprovide means for supporting these sections upon the headlight which permits some of the rays of the headlight to be discharged up against the airplane so that it may be seen at night.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

. My invention is illustrated inthe panying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of my airplane 25 ornament and showing a portion of a headlight on which the ornament is mounted;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a portion of the headlight having an ornament with the support for the ornament collapsed;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detailed section through twoof the sections of the telescopic support showing the manner of their construction.

Referring to these drawings, designates 3 a base which is adapted to be attached to the rim of a headlight H and extend somewhat in front of said headlight. This base is attached by screws: 11 to the headlight rim. The base extends downward as at 12 in front of the headlight rim and has a highly polished inner face so as to form a reflector. Holes 13 are formed in the top of that portion of the base which projects over the headlight so that rays of light may be reflected upward through these holes.

Attached to the base and resting in a socket therein is a tubular section 14 and adapted to nest within this tubular section 14 are a plurality of tubular telescopic sec- 1 tions 15, 16 and 17 shown as four in num;

1930. Serial No. 456,225;

her, though, I do not wish to be limited to this number. The sections are, ofcourse, successively smallerin diameter so as to fit one within the other and all of the sections when closed fit within the base section 14 or socket.

The upper end of each tubular section is formed with a collar 18 which may be formed integral with the tubular section or not as desired and which 'constitutesa stop. The lower end of each of the tubular sections 15, o 16 and 17 is formed with an enlargement 19 having approximately the same diameter as the collar and alsoacting as a stop limiting the upward movement of one section within the other. This stop 19 may be'formed by cap 20 attached to .the lower end of each tublar section 15, 16 or 17 Theupper end ofthe uppermost section 17 is screw-threaded as at 21 and passes through the bottom of a miniature airplane preferably formed in two sheet metal sections 22 and 23. Nuts 24 and 25 engage the screw-threaded portion 21 and are engaged'with the miniature airplane so as to hold the'miniature airplane upon the upper section 17 but permit the airplane to rotate thereon. I 1

The airplane has the general form of an ordinary airplane provided with the usual propeller, rudder, stabilizers and planes.

While I have illustrated a monoplane, I do notwis'h to be'limited to this as the miniature airship might be in the form of a bi plane. f T i Preferably, as before stated, the airplane is constructed of two sheet metal sections '22 and 23. 7 These are made of stamped metal held together by acowling or nose 26 at the flanges 27 and by the lateral stabilizers 28. The ordinary stabilizer 29. may be attached tothe upper section of the plane. The forward end of the fuselage carries upon it the propeller 30 which, of course, rotates freely as the machineis driven forward or from the force of any breeze. Any suitableor usual similitude of a landing gear designated generally 31 may extend downward from the forward portion of the fuselage.

Except insofar as claimed, I do not wish to be limited to the particular details of construction of the airplane. The planes" or 100 wings 32 have the usual form of airplane When the car is ata stand-still .or going.

very slowly, the airship will be lowered to the positlon shown in Figure 2, but as the speed of the car increases, the lift on the wings of the airship will increase and theairship will gradually rise and will lift up the first section 17. When the car has attained a certain greater speed, the section 17 will move up further and carry with it the section 16 and when the car increases its speed beyond a certain point, the airship will have risen to the full extent of the sections 15, 16' and 17. It will thus be seen that when tl e airplane first moves upward, it supports merely the weight of theupper section16. Then in order to move still further upward,-it must raise the weight of the sections 16 and 17. Tofattain a high 1' elevation, it must raise the weight of thesections '17, 15 and 16. The airship will be raised to the extent of the first section of the telescope at approximately fi teen miles per hour-ofcar speed instill air or a relative speed of fifteen miles perihour between the car and the current of air passing the car. he fulllift ofthe airship and the full extension of the telescopic supports is reached at speed; not lessthan thirty miles anhour. -Thus to'a certainextent, the'elevationof the airplaneis consonant with the speed of the car and indicates'roughly the speed of the car. The miniature airship will maintain a direct course when flying, yet it is free to rotate completely around on its axis, thus preventing any damage from misuse and also keeping the nose into the wind when the car is not in motion.

At night the lightfrom the headlight will be reflected by the polished inner surface of the flange 12 and this light will be directed up through the opening-s13 and'thus the-a-irship will be illuminated.

While I have illustrated an airplane, I do not wish tobe limited to this as a miniature zeppelin might be used, provided it carried wings or other means wherebythe air striking against an inclined surface would cause the ship to lift.

Iclaim:'' V

1. -A motor car ornament of the character described,comprising a base, a socket section mounted upon the base, a plurality of telescopic sections, the last of said sections having telescopic engagement with the socket section, a miniature airplane mounted upon the uppermost section and having laterally projecting upwardly'and forwardly inclined wings, the lower end of each telescopic section and the upper end of the adjacent telescopic section having stops limiting the upward movement of adjacent sections relative to each other.

2. A motor car ornament of the character described, comprising a base formed to provide an attaching flange and a socket-section extending vertically with relation to the attaching flange, the flange extending laterally on each side of said socket section, a plurality of sections telescopically engaged with each other and with the socket section, means for limiting the upward movement of the telescopic sections with relation to each other, a miniature airplane mounted upon the uppermost of said telescopic sections and having a propeller at its forward end.

A motorcar ornament of the character described including an airship having an upwardly and forwardlyv inclined surface against which a current of air may impinge and a support for said airship consisting-of a base and a plurality of telescopic sections, the uppermost section being connected to the airship and the lowermost section being operatively engaged with the base, the sections successively telescoping into each other and each section except the uppermost section having a stop at its upper end and each section except the lowermost section having a stop at its lower end engaging with the stop at the upper end of the subjacent section when the section has risen to its full extent where by as the car moves forward the airship will rise dra-win out the sections one-by one to an extent dependent upon the speed of the car and as the car slows down the sections will telescope, one within the 0'. her.

signature.

KENNETH w. WILSON. 

